A little over a month ago, I quit my job. I left without another position lined up, and even though it was a premeditated decision, it felt akin to leaping out of an airplane at 12,000 feet without a parachute.

It’s been nice to have an open schedule. I’m spending time with my parents, doing some writing, and finally getting enough sleep for the first time since birth. But the intoxicating freedom of my decision has come with an unforeseen drawback: I no longer have any idea how to measure the value of my life.

We spend a lot of our lives at work. It makes sense, then, that either intentionally or by happenstance, we measure our value based on how successful we are at our job — and, as naturally follows, by how much we get paid. After all, our employers are literally paying us for the value we create. The more you make, the more valuable you are, right?

It quickly becomes an easy — and dangerous — way to measure your worth.

Continue reading “how to measure the value of your life” →